Football delegates must stand up to task at hand, give us good leaders

The stage is finally set for the Football Kenya Federation national elections. The list of elected delegates has finally been cleared and it is the wish of all Kenyans that we should have credible elections this time round.

It has been a long road and we take this opportunity to thank the Electoral Board — even though we are aware that there has been a lot of squabbling and name calling among the board members — for having taken their time and even postponing the exercise many times over just so that we get fairly elected delegates.

In branches where there was a tie, voting was repeated despite cheeky demands from a senior board member that a coin be tossed to determine the winner.

It is our sincere hope that funds for the exercise have been sourced and that no hitches or glitches should come at this time. We know there are candidates who have already sensed defeat and may want to scuttle the exercise; they must be cautioned since all the contenders have had ample time to campaign. It must be a free and fair election.

The 77 delegates who will exercise the collective will of Kenyans must, for once, stand up to the task at hand and give us the good leaders that we deserve. ‘Politics of the stomach’ and sneaky bribery must have taken place already, but we urge those who have had the ‘fortune’ of reaping where they did not sow to take a backseat and think really hard whether it is their stomachs or Kenyan football that matters at this juncture.

We know such types are incorrigible and thinking is the hardest mission they try to avoid even at the pain of death. But we shall not shirk our responsibility to remind them that, should our football suffer, we shall hold them squarely responsible, jointly and severally.

Indeed, Kenyan football is in a shambles; it is below the level worthy of discussion. It has been attacked by a clique with not a scruple of patriotism. Individuals with no ability to run even a simple kiosk have taken us this low and, as such, we have no way to go but up.

We have hit rock bottom. This is the reason we put our trust in this year’s election; that it may save us from the persistent quagmire stemming from poor management. That is why we plead with the delegates to leave their rumbling tummies at home and, for once, use their brains.

All over the world, starting with Fifa, there has been changing of personnel and quest for transparency in the running of football. At this time of flux, we must not be retrogressive and endorse the chaff that only gloat in suffocating our players.

At this time, we must remember just how much our national team has suffered; we must recollect how many times the players have cried out for their allowances with all phones ‘closed’ to their plea; we must reminisce about all the evils that we have suffered and try to fix them by voting out the irredeemable from office.

Not all Kenyans are voting but they are represented; the delegates hold the key to change. It is you, delegates, who shall make or break our beloved sport; it is you, the 77, who have the mandate to help Kenya to rise high from the ashes; it is you who shall instil the respect that is wanting in those offices.

Go vote wisely and we shall ululate with you when a good team takes over the mantle of football in this country. We only await a reasoned-out result.